“For a long time, Italian dishes abroad had been characterized by such a heavy-handed use of tomato that, for the many who had begun to discover refinement
and infinite variety in the regional cuisines of Italy, the color red and any taste
of tomato in a sauce came to represent a coarse and discredited style of cooking.
The moment for a major reassessment may be at hand.
There is nothing inherently crude about tomato sauce. Quite the contrary: No other preparation is more successful in delivering the prodigious satisfactions of Italian cooking than a competently executed sauce with tomatoes; no flavor expresses more clearly the genius of Italian cooks than the freshness, the immediacy, the richness
of good tomatoes adroitly matched to the most suitable choice of pasta.
The sauces that are grouped immediately below are those in which tomatoes have
a dominant role…”

The basic cooking method • Pasta sauces may cook slowly or rapidly, they may
take 4 minutes or 4 hours, but they always cook by evaporation, which concen-
trates and clearly defines their flavor. Never cook a sauce in a covered pan, or
it will emerge with a bland, steamed, weakly formulated taste.

Tasting a sauce and correcting for salt • A sauce must be sufficiently savory to
season pasta adequately. Blandness is not a virtue, tastelessness is not a joy.
Always taste a sauce before tossing the pasta with it. If it seems barely salty
enough on its own, it’s not salty enough for the pasta. Remember it must have
flavor enough to cover a pound or more of cooked, virtually unsalted pasta.
When tomato is the main ingredient: If they are available, use fresh, naturally
and fully ripened, plum tomatoes. Varieties other than the plum may be used, if
they are equally ripe and truly fruity, not watery. If completely satisfactory fresh tomatoes are not available, it is better to use canned imported Italian plum
tomatoes. If your local grocers do not carry these, experiment with other canned varieties until you can determine which has the best flavor and consistency…

Cooking-time note • For all the tomato sauces that follow, the cooking time
given is indicative. If you make a larger quantity of sauce, it will take longer;
if the pot is broad and shallow, the sauce will cook faster; if it is deep and
narrow, it will cook more slowly. You alone can tell when it is ready. Taste
it for density: It should be neither too thick nor too watery, and for flavor the
tomato must lose its raw taste, without losing sweetness or freshness.

Freezer note • Wherever indicated, tomato sauces may be frozen successfully.
After thawing, simmer for 10 minutes before tossing with pasta.

Reminder • If the sauce has butter, always toss the pasta with an additional tablespoon of fresh butter; if it has olive oil, drizzle with raw olive oil
while tossing.

Making Fresh Tomatoes Ready for Sauce

Unless the recipe indicates otherwise, fresh, ripe tomatoes must be prepared
to use for sauce following one of the two methods given below. The blanching
method can lead to a meatier, more rustic consistency. The food mill method
produces a silkier, smooth sauce.

The blanching method • Plunge the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute or
less. Drain them and, as soon as they are cool enough to handle, skin them,
and cut them up in coarse pieces.

The food mill method • Wash the tomatoes in cold water, cut them lengthwise
in half, and put them in a covered saucepan. Turn on the heat to medium
and cook them for 10 minutes. Set a food mill fitted with the disk with the
largest holes over a bowl. Transfer the tomatoes with any of their juice
to the mill and puree.

"The angels in Paradise eat nothing but vermicelli al pomodoro."
~ Duke of Bovino and mayor of Naples, 1930,
as quoted in "Notes from a Country Kitchen" by Jocasta Innes

Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

“This is the simplest of all sauces to make, and none has a purer, more
irresistibly sweet tomato taste. I have known people to skip the pasta
and eat the sauce directly out of the pot with a spoon.”

For 6 servings

2 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes,
prepared as described [above],
or 2 cups canned imported Italian plum
tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
5 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
Salt
1 to 1 1/2 pounds pasta
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for the table

Recommended pasta • This is an unsurpassed sauce for Potato Gnocchi…
but it is also delicious with factory-made pasta in such shapes as spaghetti,
penne, or rigatoni. Serve with grated Parmesan.

Put either the prepared fresh tomatoes or the canned in a saucepan, add
the butter, onion, and salt, and cook uncovered at a very slow, but steady
simmer for 45 minutes, or until the fat floats free from the tomato. Stir
from time to time, mashing any large piece of tomato in the pan with the
back of a wooden spoon. Taste and correct for salt. Discard the onion
before tossing the sauce with pasta.
Note • May be frozen when done. Discard the onion before freezing.

Tomato Sauce with Olive Oil
and Chopped Vegetables

“The carrot and celery in this sauce are put in a crudo, which means
without the usual separate and preliminary sautéing procedure, along
with the tomatoes. The sweetness of carrot and the fragrance of celery
contribute depth to the fresh tomato flavor of the sauce.”

For 6 servings

2 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes,
prepared as described [above],
or 2 cups canned imported Italian plum
tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
2/3 cup chopped carrot
2/3 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup chopped onion
Salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 to 1 1/2 pounds pasta

Recommended pasta • This is an all-purpose sauce for most cuts of
factory-made pasta, particularly spaghettini and penne.

1. Put either the prepared fresh tomatoes or the canned in a saucepan, add
the carrot, celery, onion, and salt, and cook with no cover on the pan at
a slow, steady simmer for 30 minutes. Stir from time to time.
2. Add the olive oil, raise the heat slightly to bring to a somewhat stronger simmer, and stir occasionally, while reducing the tomato to as much of a
pulp as you can with the back of the spoon. Cook for 15 minutes, then
taste and correct for salt.
Note • May be frozen when done.

Variation with Marjoram and Two Cheeses

The above sauce, cooked through to the end, plus the following:

Marjoram, 2 teaspoons if fresh, 1 if dried
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons freshly grated Romano cheese
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1. While the sauce is simmering, add the marjoram, stir thoroughly, and simmer for another 5 minutes.
2. Off heat, swirl in the grated Parmesan, then the Romano, then the 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Toss immediately with the pasta.

Recommended pasta • Excellent with spaghetti, but even better
with the thicker, hollow shape, bucatini or perciatelli.

Variation with Rosemary and Pancetta

The basic sauce above, cooked through to the end,
plus the following:

2 teaspoons dried rosemary leaves,
chopped very fine, or a
small sprig of fresh rosemary
1/2 cup pancetta sliced thin and
cut into narrow julienne strips

1. While the sauce is simmering, put the olive oil in a small skillet and turn
on the heat to medium high. When the oil is hot, add the rosemary and
the pancetta. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring almost constantly with a
wooden spoon.
2. Transfer the entire contents of the skillet to the saucepan with the tomato sauce, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Recommended pasta • A shape with crevices or hollows, such as ruote di carro (“cartwheels”), or conchiglie [seashells], or fusilli, would be a good choice.

Tomato Sauce with Sautéed Vegetables
and Olive Oil

“This is a denser, darker sauce than the preceding
two cooked longer over a base of sautéed vegetables.”

2 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes,
prepared as described [above],
or 2 cups canned imported Italian plum
tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup chopped carrot
2/3 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup chopped onion
Salt
1 to 1 1/2 pounds pasta

Recommended pasta • Most factory-made pasta will carry this sauce well,
in particular substantial shapes such as rigatoni, ridged penne, or bucatini.

1. If using fresh tomatoes: Put the prepared tomatoes in an uncovered saucepan and cook at a very slow simmer for about 1 hour. Stir from
time to time, mashing any pieces of tomato against the sides of the
pan with the back of a wooden spoon. Transfer to a bowl with all
their pieces.
If using canned tomatoes: Proceed with Step 2 and add the tomatoes
where indicated in Step 3.
2. Wipe the saucepan dry with paper towels. Put in the olive oil and the chopped onion, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook and stir the
onion until it becomes colored a very pale gold, add the carrot and
celery, and cook at lively heat for another minute, stirring once or
twice to coat the vegetables well.
3. Add the cooked fresh tomatoes or the canned, a large pinch of salt,
stir thoroughly, and adjust heat to cook in the uncovered pan at a
gentle, but steady simmer. If using fresh tomatoes, cook for 15 to
20 minutes; if using the canned, simmer for 45 minutes. Stir from
time to time. Before turning off the heat, taste and correct for salt.
Note • May be frozen when done.

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